U.S. Tells Families of Istanbul Consulate Staff to Leave Turkey

ISTANBUL — The State Department on Sunday ordered all members of the families of its consulate staff in Istanbul to leave Turkey, citing increased security threats from terrorist organizations.

The department said in a statement that the decision was based “on security information indicating extremist groups are continuing aggressive efforts to attack U.S. citizens in areas of Istanbul where they reside or frequent.”

The order was the second warning for United States citizens in Turkey in less than a week. The State Department previously advised Americans to carefully consider the need to travel to Turkey, warning that American tourists had been singled out as targets by international and domestic terrorist organizations.

Turkey has endured numerous terrorist attacks in the past year. The authorities have held the Islamic State or Kurdish militants responsible for the attacks, as the country grapples with both the spillover from the war in Syria and the renewal of a decades-long conflict with Kurdish insurgents in southeastern Turkey.

The State Department, in its travel warning last week, urged United States citizens to avoid Turkey’s southeastern region and to consider carefully the risks of traveling elsewhere in the country.

Turkey remains under a state of emergency in the aftermath of a failed coup in July that tried to topple the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and resulted in the deaths of more than 270 people.

Anti-American sentiment has increased in Turkey in recent months, in part because the Turkish news media accused Washington of harboring Fethullah Gulen, a cleric living in exile in rural Pennsylvania, whom some here have accused of masterminding the coup.

Turkey, which has asked the United States to extradite Mr. Gulen, submitted additional documents last week to back up the request. Mr. Gulen has denied involvement in the coup attempt. United States officials have said Mr. Gulen’s case will be reviewed within the confines of the law.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: U.S. Tells Relatives of Consulate Staff to Leave Turkey. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe